A little food for thought today. It is NOT meant to offend anyone - the purpose is to get you thinking in a different direction.

Birthday Cakes! Did you ever wonder where/why the birthday cake tradition started? I did, so this morning I dug a little, you can dig too and maybe find something entirely different. I'd love to hear if you do!

It is no secret that my Mother was diabetic, she is no longer with us on this earth and I will tell you that the last several years of her life were not enjoyable - not for her, and not for her family. Each year on her birthday I refused to bake or buy her a birthday cake, for several reasons. The main reason was that it wasn’t a TREAT for her – she ate sweets of some kind, treats every day. A birthday celebration should be something special, something you don’t have every other day of the year, or on a regular basis (meaning weekly, monthly, often). So my siblings and I tried to find other ways to celebrate her birthday with fruit and vegetables to try to show her (and us) that a celebration could include “good” food and not just food that spikes your blood glucose then requires calculations of carbohydrate overloads and shots of insulin. I should recognize here that a celebration also includes the gathering of family and sometimes close friends – I get that!

This morning I dug a little. The origin of the birthday cake according to Tokenz indicates the birthday cake can be traced back to Ancient Greece. Interesting – right? So think about Ancient Greece and the food available then. Do you think refined sugars and wheat flours were the same then as they are now – or even existent? I highly doubt it! So, it’s been pounded in my head not to provide a problem or issue without an idea for resolution. I’ve seen this watermelon "cake" on social media and have heard that while it may take some time (and really what birthday cake doesn’t) it is GOOD and very much worth the time. And, another baked option would be something like Simple Blueberry Lemon Birthday Cake. These are just two ideas to substitute something different for the traditional birthday cake. In my opinion, there is no end to what a birthday celebration could entail.

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A certified Personal Fitness Trainer, NESTA 1/2012. A former morbidly-obese woman, successfully maintaining a weight loss of 150 pounds since 2007 as a result of hard work and incorporating fitness into everyday life, it is a continuous quest. Always evolving skills in helping others and myself achieve vibrant, healthy lives through fitness. Offering private and group fitness sessions in the Penns Valley and surrounding areas.